Musician's Institute?

Hello, I'm a high school senior and I want to pursue music as a career. I plan on going to music school after graduation, but I don't know where to go. I am leaning towards Musician's Institute, but it is pretty expensive. I'm hoping to get financial aid and such(afterall, I am from Eastern Kentucky, an economically deprived region). Anyone have any experiences from MI...or any tips on financial aid? Thanks in advance!

I know two bass players personnally who attended MI over ten years ago. One was a bass teacher I had. He told me that the main challenge he had was the speed at which subjects were presented. The material went very fast and you couldn't dare fall behind. He seemed to indicate that he wished there had been more time at each level to develop a better understanding and more skill, but there was so much to learn in such a short time, it was hard to have mastery of anything. However, he was a darned good bassist and I don't feel the experience did him any harm at all.

The other one was an interesting person who attended MI and was so impressed with the setup, that he returned to his native country and set up a music school loosely based on the MI system. He attended both the bass part and the drumming part. Strange thing is, he became so involved with his music school, that I don't think he ever played professionally as a musician again.

I attended his MI imitation school. That said, though, I would never, ever make the claim that I received anywhere near the education that one might receive in the "real" MI.

In short, I think no matter what music school you attend, what get out of it has a great deal to do with what you put into it. In the end much of what Iknow, I had to learn on my own, but the music school was a foundation from which to build.

Oh, a final suggestion. Check the cost of going to MI and compare it with the cost of going to The Players' School of Jeff Berlin which is in Clearwater, Florida. Keep in mind that the cost of living in Florida is far cheaper than in Los Angeles. If you plan to be a pro bass player, you might do just as well to go to Jeff Berlin's school.

depends on what kind music you play and what you want to get out of it. places like that and jeff berlin's arent exactly what i would consider a legit music school. mi within the last couple of years just set up there bachelors program but you have to take classes at la city college. prior to that all you could get once you were done was get your "professional certificate" and what does that really do for you. "hi, my name is bob and im a pro musician. dont believe me? look i have my certificate to prove it!"

i had a good friend that spent a couple of years there recently and while he came back better than he was, he was practicing all day every day. i do think he would have been forced to be better than he is right now if he would have gone to berklee or north texas or something like that.